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My Story

San Leandro High School student Arooj Haq is passionate about public health and advocating for human rights. Arooj, 17, is active in the Advocating Change Together Project through Girls Inc., which goes to elementary schools to help children make healthy lifestyle choices. She also promotes nutrition, smart choices and healthy relationships to her high school peers, and helps run her school's annual blood drive. The daughter of two Pakistani immigrants, Arooj has long aspired to be a nurse. A recent trip to the Middle East caused her to expand her aspirations, however. Her goal now is to one day open a charity helping women in her parents' native country. As a young Muslim woman, Arooj has had some negative experiences due to others' ignorance and stereotyping. The experiences only bolster her determination to be a positive role model and to redefine cultural assumptions.